Anwar verdict postponed as supporters plan protest

Anwar verdict postponed as supporters plan protest

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A Malaysian court postponed on Thursday the verdict in Anwar Ibrahim's sex trial a day before it was due, amid plans by supporters of the sacked deputy premier for a major protest on Friday.

Defense lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP he received a faxed notice from the High Court. It said a date for the verdict in the sodomy trial would be announced later since Judge Arifin Jaka was not ready to deliver his judgment.

Anwar's supporters had called for a demonstration outside the high court on Friday at the end of a trial which has stirred strong passions in Malaysia. Police had threatened tough action to suppress the protest.

Anwar expressed unhappiness at the postponement, saying it stirred "suspicion," but the government denied any role.

"He (Anwar) is unhappy because it was done at the 11th hour and no new date has been fixed," Sankara said later after visiting his client in Sungai Buloh prison just outside the city. "He said all this can only lead to suspicion."

Sankara said Anwar did not elaborate on his suspicions. Opposition politician Tian Chua said supporters were still expected to gather on Friday outside the neighboring magistrates' court, where 30 people arrested after an earlier pro-Anwar protest will go on trial.

But he said any gathering would not be as large as earlier expected.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government was not involved in the postponement.

"This is not the first time a Malaysian court has postponed its verdict," he told a press conference. "We cannot interfere. It is the court's discretion."

When the sodomy trial ended July 18 after 13 months, Arifin said Aug. 4 was a tentative date for his verdict and he would notify lawyers if he needed extra time.

"You can rest assured that I will be guided by my conscience and judge the case based on evidence," he told Anwar, who says he was framed because he was seen as a political threat to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The government has denied any plot against him.

Police said any rally would be illegal since no permit had been issued for it and organizers could be charged with sedition, punishable by up to three years' jail.

The officially-appointed Malaysian Human Rights Commission said this week the public has a right to peaceful assembly but Mahathir and other ministers have warned against any protest.

Syed Hamid said the commission had a right to give its views "but the government has a duty to ensure law and order. Being the government, we cannot allow demonstrations to have an impact on people."

The 30 people who will go on trial Friday for illegal assembly include Tian Chua himself and other leading opposition party members. If convicted they could face jail and disqualification from standing for parliament.

Tian, a vice-president of the National Justice Party founded by Anwar's wife, said people who had planned to travel from outside the city to hear the Anwar verdict were not now expected to attend.

But some others who had already arrived in the capital might stage a "peaceful gathering" to show support for the 30, who were arrested outside the National Mosque last September.

Anwar, sacked by Mahathir in September 1998, is already serving a six-year jail term for abusing his official powers. He faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty of sodomy.

There have been numerous street clashes since the Anwar saga began. Police had fired teargas and water cannon to disperse some 10,000 supporters at the mosque.

They were seeking an independent probe into claims the politician had been poisoned with arsenic while in jail. A medical inquiry later found he was not suffering from "acute or chronic arsenic poisoning."

Authorities have wide powers to declare any gathering illegal.